The great advances in health care, particularly in the areas of patient comfort and general hygiene, have encouraged the attempts to develop comfortable mattress components which have an increased degree of sanitation.
Until rather recently, conventional health care mattresses had been constructed of natural material, such as cotton, and encased within a sheet of cotton material. The mattress was usually extremely hard and penetrable to fluids. Consequently, both comfort and hygiene were generally lacking.
With the development of foam rubber products, experimentation began with various types of foam rubber cores, but still with the predominant use of covers of cotton sheeting. Patient comfort was enhanced by the use of the various foam rubber products, and eventually by the further development of flexible plastic foam products, but there was still insufficient sanitation.
Mattresses with seams allow the invasion of pathogens which had been carried by the blood and other bodily fluids of the patient. Following invasion by way of the seam, it becomes impossible to perform complete decontamination. Therefore, subsequent patients or health care providers become gravely exposed to diseases such as AIDS (or the HIV virus), HBV (hepatitis B virus), and other fluid and bloodborne illnesses.
Even with mattress structures formed of foam rubber or foam plastic there had been no suitable sanitation because the mattresses still permitted the accumulation of contaminants by maintaining various forms of crevices, binding together incompletely of different layers of material, and particularly those structures which purposely have vent components for other purposes.
We have found out that the prior art discloses mattresses having the disadvantages we have described above: accessibility by contaminants by having loose covers, by having different layers which might become disconnected, and by having components exposed to ambient atmosphere.
The prior art we have found includes:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,124 Sturtevant Oct. 16, 1962 U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,853 Platter July 19, 1977 U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,473 Poirier June 30, 1981 U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,298 Russo et al Feb. 23, 1982 U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,725 Ahim Nov. 9, 1982 U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,487 Eberl May 2, 1989 U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,123 Salyards April 16, 1991 ______________________________________ Brochure [ENAB-1R(1988)] Uniroyal Plastics, 1988
U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,124 to Sturtevant describes a cushion of foam or sponge rubber disposed within a cover. The cover includes a tubular extension at one end to permit air to flow freely outwardly and inwardly of the cushion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,853 to Platter describes a hospital mattress comprised of a plurality of layers of foamed material and a base of transverse support members. The support members comprise slats and dowels which are alternately arranged. The slats and dowels are maintained in alignment by nylon cords near each side of the mattress. The mattress also includes a removable bed pan plug.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,473 to Poirier describes a floating mattress comprising a plurality buoyant blocks, preferably of molded cellular polystyrene, arranged in side-by-side relation within an outer skin of a material which is capable of maintaining the orientation of the mattress, such as an outer skin of polyvinyl chloride film.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,298 to Russo describes a mattress assembly comprising a composite top pad and a lower pad. The top pad comprises two layers of foamed elastomeric material bonded to a mesh layer between them. The lower pad comprises a series of articulated sections of foamed elastomeric material of higher density than that of the top pad. Fabric tape handles extend between the upper layers with opposite ends extending beyond the mattress. Fastening means of readily detachable plastic components are attached between an upper position of the lower pad and lower position of top pad to cooperate and form a stabilizing means between the two pads.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,725 to Ahim describes a mattress comprising a thick inner core of resilient plastics material with predominantly open cells having a thin layer of resilient plastics material covering each of two longer side surfaces. Each of the two shorter side surfaces is left uncovered to allow the core to be exposed to the ambient air.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,487 to Eberl describes a mattress for new-born babies formed of a mat filled with easily deformable material. In addition, the mat may have a two-layered construction whereby one of the layers is harder than the other.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,123 to Salyards describes a flexible covering for a core of a mattress, such as a foam core, comprising flexible outer and inner coverings. The outer and inner coverings are made of materials of selected vapor transmission at prescribed temperatures and relative humidities.
The brochure of Uniroyal describes various closed-cell foam plastics and suggested uses for each.